Two Golden Bears live to see the weekend at U.S. Open

Cal’s Michael Kim needs to update his goals as he plots Saturday’s third round at the U.S. Open. Kim, like Cal teammates Michael Weaver and Max Homa, wanted to make the cut at Merion Golf Club outside Philadelphia.

Michael Kim — all 150 pounds of him — begins the third round tied for 13th.

Kim did more than make the cut. Way more.

He returned to Merion early Saturday morning and played the final seven holes of his second round. Kim started sluggishly — with bogeys on Nos. 4 and 5 — but then he steadied himself with five consecutive pars to complete an even-par 70.

That left him tied for 13th halfway through this Open, at 3-over, and only four shots behind co-leaders Phil Mickelson and Billy Horschel. Stop and think about this for a moment. Kim, who recently completed his sophomore season at Cal and is all of 19 years old, will begin the third round tied with Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Ernie Els, among others.

Nice company.

Weaver also made the cut, shooting 74-74 to land at 8-over. Homa missed the cut after shooting 73-78, as did USF’s Cory McElyea (81-79).

Kim, at 3-over, has the lowest score of the 10 amateurs in the field. Cheng-Tsung Pan, of Chinese Taipei and the University of Washington, is one shot back at 4-over.

Asked if he was surprised with where he stood in the tournament, Kim said, “Yeah. I didn’t really expect to be ‑‑ I think I was in 13th last time I checked. It’s pretty cool.”

All along, Cal coach Steve Desimone suspected his players had a chance to play on the weekend. Desimone especially liked Kim’s chances, given his sharp short game and reliable putting. Kim doesn’t hit the ball especially far — logical when you look at his rail-thin, 5-11, 150-pound frame — but power off the tee isn’t a prerequisite at Merion.

“I’ve just been really steady,” Kim said. “I’m hitting a decent amount of fairways and greens. I’ve been putting pretty well. These greens are really tricky. And I think putting is one of my strengths and it’s been working so far.”

Seventy-three players, in all, made the 36-hole cut. The third round will begin at 12:15 p.m. (EDT), with players going out in threesomes from the Nos. 1 and 11 tees.

Kim will start his round at 1:34 on the No. 1 tee, alongside Geoff Ogilvy (the 2006 U.S. Open champ) and Bo Van Pelt. Weaver starts on No. 11 at 1:45, with Kevin Chappell and Josh Teater.